The fathers are working around the Democrat-led state Senate.
Concerned fathers of female athletes are taking matters into their own hands.
After two bills failed to pass through the Maine state legislature, parents are taking to the streets to collect signatures in hopes of getting their own set of rules passed.
“We will effect change across the entire state all at once.”
The group of fathers, called Maine Girl Dads, is asking the general public of Maine to sign a petition for the initiative titled “An Act to Designate School Sports Participation and Facilities by Sex.”
The act would require schools in the state to designate “athletic teams and private facilities,” including bathrooms and locker rooms, on the basis of biological sex.
WMTW-TV caught up with Steven Scharf, one of the men taking roadside signatures over the weekend, to see what the reactions were like from the general public.
“Everybody who’s stopped by has been very eager to sign and can’t understand why this is not just automatic and why this needs to go through a process of being voted on, and why the state legislature has not passed this as is,” Scharf told the outlet.
Sending the question of banning boys from girls’ sports directly to the voter circumvents the state. Not only has Maine defied President Trump’s early February executive order on this matter, but the state Senate has shot down two different bills that would have achieved the same end.
Two bills passed the Maine House, which has a virtual split between Democrats (74) and Republicans (73), with three independents. However, neither passed in the state Senate, which is composed of 20 Democrats, 14 Republicans, and one independent.
Proposal LD 1134 was rejected by the Senate on June 13, while LD 233 was rejected just days later on June 16.
If the Maine Girl Dads get their way and their proposal is passed, it would become effective on Jan. 1, 2027.
Maine Fathers’ Campaign to Restrict Boys in Girls’ Sports Gains Momentum
